Compositions matter!

“Compositions matter. Artfully arranged, anything can become a thing of beauty.” interior designer Barbara Barry

JeanieSquilt
We quilters are composers! We compose moods, messages and fantasies using our palette of fabrics. Jeanie Schneider’s quilt dances with good cheer! Bright and balmy at the same time–how can this be? With the repetition of the simple square shape in two different sizes she keeps our eye searching for a pattern of movement. The blocks of related color prolong the mystery of why we are drawn in as our eyes search the line between calm and excited.

Visually exploring this quilt makes me smile many months after I first viewed it at our April 2015 quilt show. I’ve added this photo of her quilt as seen from a distance to show the blocks of color more easily. JeanieS-sml

Jeanie’s quilt was awarded the Judge’s Choice Ribbon at that show indicating that someone else was intrigued by the simple composition artfully arranged. Lights and darks shift and shine as a dance of color and shadow pull our eyes from one spot to another. As we study, we may see the diagonal pattern of the smaller squares moving from the upper right corner across toward the bottom left. But we may not see that and can still find ourselves enjoying the delicious experience of a pure color contrasting with a muddy dark color or a strong color vibrating with its equally strong neighbor.

The pattern designer only suggests the tempo and pattern placement. The quilter adds her own spark and vision to any basic pattern. This was my favorite quilt from that show of over two hundred quilts. Jeanie chose the fabrics and placed each side-by-side as she sewed her own vision into her quilt. You can see from the picture that she is well satisfied with her work.

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